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The Crushers managed another .500 week after dropping their first two games in Traverse City. From the sixth through the eighth they recorded a season high win streak of three, counting their final game in Traverse City and their first two in Washington. They are now 9-12, still in last place in the East Division. Kyle Ferrara details that week that was for the Crushers...

Lake Erie's offense was shut down by Washington Sunday as the Crushers (9-12) could not complete the sweep, losing 6-1. Winners of three out of its last four games, the common denominator for Lake Erie's success was strong pitching mixing with solid run support. But Sunday, neither was the case.

Russell Moldenhauer powered Lake Erie with two opposite field home runs and four RBIs as the Crushers earned back-to-back wins with a 6-5 win over Washington (Pennsylvania) on Friday to get back on track.

Crushers manager Jeff Isom got exactly what he asked for following the team’s fourth consecutive loss on Wednesday night. For his team to get back to winning, he said they needed their starting pitcher to keep them in the game and their offense to score first. The team answered the call on Thursday, beating Traverse City 5-2 to improve to 7-11. Traverse City falls to 10-8 with the loss.

When Traverse City shortstop Taylor Wrenn smashed a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, the game was over. A solo home run from the Traverse City shortstop combined with a five-hit, complete game shutout from Jake Sabel led to a 1-0 Crushers loss and extended the team’s losing streak to four games.

After struggling to the tune of a 3-6 start to the season, the Crushers managed a .500 week, taking two of three from Florence and one of three from Joliet over the weekend. The team is now 6-9 on the season, but is still trying to find a level of consistency. The IBI's Kyle Ferrara shares the details in his weekly Crushers notebook.

Joliet's bats proved to be too powerful as the Slammers jumped on Lake Erie (6-9) early and never looked back on their way to a 9-5 win Sunday and a series victory. Lake Erie starter Matt Rein (1-2) was in for a rude welcoming as he wasn't even able to make it to the third inning.

Just two days ago, manager Jeff Isom critiqued that hitters on his team were trying too hard to hit that a four-run home run when they should just take what they’re given. Today, Freedom starter Brandon Mathes gave left fielder Kevin Berard a pitch in his wheel house, and Berard turned it into one of those four-run home runs previously mentioned. With two outs in the fourth inning, he hit a laser shot over the left field wall, capping a five run inning for the Crushers in which they took a 6-3 lead and never looked back.

Apparently, the Lake Erie Crusher hitters are morning people. After struggling to hit with men in scoring position for the first 10 games of the season, the Crushers (4-7) finally woke up as they pounded out 11 runs on 19 hits in their 11-7 victory over the Florence Freedom (6-5).

Much to the delight of the kids sitting on the hill in left field, Freedom shortstop Junior Arrojo led off the sixth with a solo home run to left field. In hot pursuit, one young boy appeared to be hit by the Florence lead off man’s shot; the Crushers felt his pain the rest of the night.

River City completed a three game series sweep of Lake Erie Sunday night in Missouri with a 2-1 victory over the Crushers. Despite getting another solid performance from its starting pitching, the Crushers bats hit, but could not come up with runs.

Two days ago, designated hitter Anderson Hidalgo was on the suspended list for the Crushers. Thursday night, he drove in what was ultimately the game winning run with a bases-loaded single with nobody out in the top of the fourth inning as the Crushers (3-3) went on to beat the Miners (3-3) by a score of 3-1.

Both teams fought until the very end, and even then, manager Jeff Isom kept fighting. First baseman Russell Moldenhauer was originally called safe by the first base umpire on an infield single, but after a chit chat with Miners manager Mike Pinto and a conference with the rest of the crew, he changed the call. Moldenhauer was out and the game was over. The Crushers fell to the Southern Illinois Miners 7-6 in seven innings in game one of Wednesday’s doubleheader. The Crushers were able to win game two 6-3, salvaging a split on the night.

Lake Erie struggled to get runners across again on Sunday night in a 6-1 loss to Gateway to lose the opening weekend series. Mustering up just four runs in three games, the Crushers bats were very much alive Sunday with seven hits, but a lack of run production again plagued the team.

Rookie Seth Granger (Grawn-Jay) picked the perfect time to get his first professional hit in the bottom of the 12th inning for a walk-off victory over Gateway Saturday night in Avon. Pulling a ball that was misplayed by Gateway's Jon Myer, Lake Erie's Daniel Bowman, who had doubled earlier in the inning, put on the jets while rounding third and crossed home plate for a 2-1 Crushers victory.

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